Rock Harbor Search and Rescue (28 page)

Silence.

She snuck another peek at the clock: 10:28.

This was ridiculous. Emily shoved the covers off, was careful not to trip over her sleeping puppy, then headed to the kitchen. Maybe a glass of water would help.

She took a sip from the bottle in the fridge.

A soft whimper made her spin. Sherlock and Charley both stood in the kitchen doorway, Charley sniffing the puppy’s head.

“Good boy, Charley, for hearing him.” She scooped Sherlock up into her arms. “Do you need to go outside, sweet boy?” She crossed to the back door and unlocked it.

Charley growled.

Emily set Sherlock down. “Well, you can go out with him, Charley.”

The dog growled again as the puppy headed over the threshold. Charley barked and shot out the door. He barked again.

Emily’s pulse thumped. What if something was in the backyard? Something that could hurt Sherlock? Her heart in her throat, she reached for the floodlights switch. She froze. What if it was the Windigo? Or even worse.
My mother
.

“Honey, what’s wrong? I heard Charley.” Naomi appeared, the edges of her robe grazing the top of her slippers.

Charley barked again.

Emily jumped.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Naomi flipped on the lights.

A raccoon jumped off the trash can and headed toward the back fence. Charley barked again. Sherlock, yipping, ran after the coon. Naomi whistled, and Charley immediately went to her. Sherlock raced behind.

“Good boy.” Naomi gave Charley a rub behind his ears, then let him inside.

Emily lifted her puppy into her arms and snuggled him against her neck as Dad stepped into the kitchen. “Is something wrong?”

“We’re fine, honey. Dogs found a raccoon in the backyard is all.”

He frowned. “You’re sure that’s all it was? I’m going to check.” He went out the back door.

“Are you all right?” Naomi asked. “I don’t think your mom would have had time to get here.”

“I guess you’re right. And it wasn’t just her. I let my imagination run away with me, I guess. All that talk about the Windigo.”

Naomi didn’t smile. “You know that’s all just a legend, right?”

“Sure.”

“Good. Because God has you in his protection. Nothing can happen to you unless it passes through his hands first. You don’t need a necklace or anything else when you have God.”

Of course Emily knew all that. Still, the reminder was a comfort tonight.

Her dad came back in, but he was frowning. “I saw some footprints. I’m going to call the sheriff. Don’t you worry, though, honey. Whoever was out there is gone now.”

My mother?
Emily swallowed hard. “Should I sleep with Timmy?”

Her dad smiled. “You’ve always taken good care of him, Em.
I’m proud of you. But I’m here, and no one is getting past me. You try to get some rest.”

Naomi kissed her cheek. “Tuck Sherlock in good. If he whimpers, just give him the chew toy Bree gave you, and he should fall back to sleep fairly easily.”

“Good night.” Emily snuggled her puppy as she shut her bedroom door behind her and set Sherlock in his bed.

Footprints. If not her mother, then who? A startling thought hit her: there was no doubt Brandon believed in the Windigo one hundred percent, yet he hadn’t been at all uneasy about searching in the woods where the Ojibwa believed the Windigo lived. Matter of fact, when she’d asked him about being too scared to stay with the search for Pansy, he’d said he was perfectly safe. If he had the necklace that he believed could protect him from the Windigo, no wonder he hadn’t been worried.

Emily crawled into bed, nearly sick to her stomach. She had no choice but to tell Sheriff Kaleva tomorrow. She could only pray Brandon had a logical explanation for everything.

And that he’d forgive her for her suspicions.

The sun rose brightly on Saturday morning, just as the meteorologist predicted. Emily was glad. The surf team had practiced hard and deserved to compete. It’d be awesome if they could win.

She hopped out of the Honda SUV and waited while Dad and Naomi got Timmy and Matthew out, then the large blanket. Too bad they’d had to leave Sherlock at home, but Charley bounded around, not seeming to be constrained by his leash in the least.

The waves rolled in with a resounding crash every few minutes—a perfect day for surfing if you liked frigid water. The
sections just behind the roped-off area were already filled with beach blankets and lawn chairs as people settled in for good placement to watch the surfers.

For once, Emily was glad Timmy hadn’t been able to find his shoes. If they had arrived any earlier, they would’ve gotten a closer seat. About twelve feet from the yellow rope was close enough for her. She had no desire to feel the spray of the lake on her face.

She caught sight of Olivia and her parents. “Dad, can I go hang with Olivia?”

He nodded. “Okay. Mason said your mother is not in the area, and I don’t think she’ll show her face, but just in case, keep your cell on, don’t wander off, and—”

“Answer if you or Naomi call.” Emily grinned. “I got it, Dad.”

He smiled. “Have fun.”

She ran over to her best friend. “Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Webster. How was your cruise?”

Olivia’s mom’s blond hair lifted in the breeze. “It was wonderful. Just what we needed. I have some little gifts for you and your parents and brothers. I’ll bring them to church tomorrow.” Her blue eyes sparkled under the bright sun.

“You didn’t have to do that.” But how cool—presents from a cruise.

“We just wanted to thank you for letting Olivia stay with you.”

“That was fun.” Emily grinned at her best friend. “Olivia’s like my sister, you know.”

Mrs. Webster smiled. “I know.”

“Mom, can I go with Emily? We want to go wish the team good luck.”

“Sure. Stay together and keep your cell phone on.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

They passed Mayor Kaleva on the sidewalk. She and her daughter, Zoe, were handing out flyers to every person who passed.

They walked across the beach, wet sand kicking up behind them as they made their way to where the competitors warmed up. It didn’t take them long to find the Gitchee Gumee Surfers in their new, logoed wet suits. Brandon smiled in their direction as they approached.

Again, Emily’s stomach knotted. How could she accuse him of having the necklace? She knew what it felt like to be accused of something you didn’t do.

But she’d seen the necklace. She knew it was the missing Sapphire Beauty.

At least she was giving him a chance to explain. His aunt hadn’t given her a chance. Emily could only pray she was doing the right thing.

She should be happy that her name would soon be cleared. But she wasn’t. Not when doing so would ruin Brandon’s reputation. Especially since everyone knew he had his heart set on applying to Stanford in California. It was one of the best schools in the country, and it had an awesome surf team. With his grades, it was the talk of Rock Harbor that he’d not only be accepted but probably win a good scholarship.

What would this do to his future?

TWENTY-TWO

The fog rolled in after the second heat of competition, right after Josh had surfed. Emily shivered as she zipped her jacket. The announcer called for the third-wave competitors. Emily grabbed Olivia’s arm. “This is Brandon’s group.”

The horn blasted. Six surfers paddled out into the surf. Brandon’s blue team shirt stood out against the water lapping the surfers’ boards.

“Our team is ahead by seven points after the first two heats. If we can pick up another two points for the lead, there’s no way we won’t place.”

God, maybe it’s wrong to pray for a certain team to win in a
competition, but I sure hope we win.
For the team. Yeah, and if she was being honest, for Brandon too.

A wave started in the back of the lineup, gaining speed and height as its crest shoved toward Brandon. The drop was particularly fierce. He glanced over his shoulder to gauge his position, then began paddling. He duck-dove.

Emily squeezed Olivia’s arm.

Brandon popped up and straightened on his board, catching the wave in the middle and maneuvering to the shoulder of the breaking wave. He executed a perfect floater off the lip, then cut back before demonstrating a classical top-turn.

The rest of the Gitchee Gumee Surfers screamed, hollered, and whistled. Emily found herself jumping up and down along with the crowd as the announcer called out the maneuvers over the loudspeaker.

“And now the blue surfer looks like he’s going to catch a tube. Here it comes . . . can he hit it?”

Emily held her breath.

“And he’s caught it. Look at that tube ride.”

The people littering the beach stood, clapping and hollering. After what felt like an hour to Emily, when actually it was mere minutes, Brandon’s ride was over. And so was the heat.

“He had to have pulled in two more points than the other teams. That was awesome,” Olivia said as they waited for the scores to be announced.

Emily watched Brandon high-five his teammates after retiring his board and getting a clap on the back from Coach Larson. He ducked into the tent the surfers used to change. Minutes later he emerged in sweatpants and a team logo shirt and spoke with the coach.

Olivia’s cell phone rang. “Hey, Mom. Did you see that? Our team is definitely going to win now.”

Emily tuned out her friend’s half of the call as Brandon turned in her direction. He smiled at her, and her face heated.

Brandon said something to the coach before grabbing another towel and rubbing it over his head.

“Yes, ma’am.” Olivia shoved the phone into her jacket pocket.
“Hey, Mom needs me to bring her one of Mayor Kaleva’s flyers. I’ll be right back, okay?”

Emily nodded absentmindedly as Brandon tossed the towel in the bin and jogged in her direction. She barely registered her best friend running off.

“What a ride, huh?” Brandon’s eyes were like dark Hershey’s chocolates. “The coach thinks this will put us over the top.”

“It’s awesome.” Why couldn’t she think of something clever to say?

He turned as his score was announced: 9.3! The other teams couldn’t catch the Gitchee Gumee Surfers now! His teammates whooped and hollered, screaming his name. He pumped his fist in the air, then without warning, grabbed Emily in a bear hug. He lifted her off the ground and twirled her around.

Her breath caught sideways in her throat.

Brandon set her down. “Sorry. But do you realize we just won the competition?”

She nodded as she worked to catch her balance. She smiled up at him, then froze as her eyes went to the leather cord peeping out from his shirt around his neck. A cord that looked just like the one she used for her copy of the Sapphire Beauty. One just like Mary Dancer used.

Emily reached up and grabbed the cord, pulling the necklace from the shirt. The fused glass caught in the sunlight fighting against the fog. She gasped as she dropped the necklace against his chest.

No denying he had the Sapphire Beauty now.

“I can explain.”

“I hope so, because I have to tell the sheriff.” She turned, striding toward the hordes of people huddled on the beach.